Saturday, January 17, 2009

Ab Machines Waste Time

By Jose Loni

A reassessment of ab machines indicate that they are not effective for getting six pack abs. Many ab machines don't target the ab muscles directly and may even cause injuries. The best ways to get ripped abs are to rev up our metabolism and to have healthy eating habits.

Resistance training increases the body's metabolism as a result of increased muscle mass. The increased muscle mass also increases metabolic activity, which allows our body to utilize excess fat to fuel our activities.

Exercises that incorporate interval training have shown to increase the body's metabolism. The anaerobic component of the exercises allow the body to increase its metabolic activity, which thereby increases the use of excess body fat as fuel for the body. The body also continues to burn fat well after the exercise activity has ended.

Relying on ab machines to give us six pack abs should be reassessed. Practicing healthy eating habits like having small, frequent meals 5-6 times throughout the day is recommended to help keep our energy levels constant and prevent blood sugar highs and lows.

Lower total caloric intake by decreasing food portion sizes and eating 5-6 times a day. This helps stabilize energy levels and a lower total caloric intake, which allows the body to burn the food we eat as well as the excess body fat.

Exercise will increase our metabolism and help the body burn excess fat, thus revealing the six-pack abs underneath. Specifically, interval and resistance training are very effective at speeding up our metabolism because these activities help increase muscle mass.

Practicing yoga, deep breathing, tai chi and meditation can help manage stress and effectively decrease the storage of body fat in the abdominal area.

The truth is, ab machines can't give us ripped abs. But by increasing our metabolism, watching our diet and managing our stress in our lives, we can finally achieve ripped abs. - 15266

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